Destroying the Bandits

As night approaches, Ryker slips out of the village. With his cultivation at the 4th Stage Genesis Gathering, getting out is easy. Using the Shadow Traversing technique, one learned from Dark Night Scripture, one of the Cultivation Arts given to him by his parents.

Passing through the guards he followed the mark he left behind using his qi. Thanks to his cultivation, the marks he left were still there despite being in the open for nearly a day. The marks couldn't even be sensed by non-cultivators, making sure the bandits were unable to sense, much less remove them.

Slinking through the shadow, he found the bandits' hideout, though this time bandits moving in and out. No doubt preparing for their assault against the village. He scanned the surroundings, counting the numbers of the group.

With his divine sense, he was able to detect about fifty bandits. They might be more in the forests but at least he could determine the group should be fifty men and above strong.

He decided to target the bandits in the forest before closing in on the base. He planned to wait until midnight when the bandits' activity would slow down, and most of them would return to their hideout.

Gazing at the night sky to pass the time, he looked at the moon and the 42 celestial body, often referred to as planetoid or pseudo-moon. He remembered how his parents told him that the pseudo-moons are used to determine the weeks by the inhabitants of Rohuka.

The first half of the year was called the 24 Moon Period, where there are 33 weeks. The first week is called the First Moonless Week. In the weeks after, three pseudo-moons would surround the true moon for 4 weeks each.

When the 4 weeks pass and the three pseudo-moons leave the vicinity of the moon, another three will take their place during the 24 Moon Period. The 4-week periods are called months and are only used during the 24 Moon Period.

After the first 33 weeks passed, there would be another week where the no pseudo-moons were near the true moon. Often referred to as Second Moonless Week or Moonless Half Year Week, it used to determine when the last half of the year began.

The second half of the year is referred to as the 18 Moon Period. Different from the first half of the year, only 1 pseudo-moon would be near the true moon for a week before being replaced by another pseudo-moon. This is the reason why there are no months during the 18 Moon Period.

After the last pseudo-moon finishes its rotation and leaves the vicinity of the true moon, another week where there are no pseudo-moons around the true moon would come, often called either Third Moonless Week or Last Moonless Week.

While he pondered over the calendar system of Rohuka, his eyes went back to the moon before realizing it had already reached its zenith. Quickly coming back to his senses, he used his divine sense before realizing most of the bandits had returned to their hideout with the exception of several guards who were currently patrolling the area.

He decided to target the bandits in the forest, to ensure there would be any left to cause trouble. After killing every bandit he could sense, he returned to the hideout, only to see the guards looking around, no doubt caused by the disappearance of their allies.

Making his move, he struck the nearest bandit, his sword piercing his heart, the bandit looked at him in shock before the life in his eyes disappeared. The other bandits, surprised by the sneak attack, were barely able to sound the alarm before they too met their ends.

Unfortunately or fortunately, the bandits were all woken up by the commotion. Before long, they all head to the entrance, only to meet a swift end. By the time he killed half of the bandits inside the hideout, the three leaders appeared, looking at the one who killed their underlings with rage.

"Boy, you better kneel and surrender, or we will make you beg to die!" the strongest of the trio roared, looking at Ryker like he was an ant.

"Really, that's all. To think I thought you could be a threat. Looks like all you can do is bark like a dog," Ryker sneered. He could kill the bandits easily with his cultivation, but he decided to make them feel despair first.

"You talk big boy! Third Brother, finish hi-" Before he could finish saying anything, Ryker threw a corpse at the leaders. This time, their mouths were open for they knew the person. It's one of their strongest underlings and can be called the leader after the three big bosses.

The man was close to the three and called them big brothers, a sentiment they returned. Seeing how his corpse where thrown like it was trash made the leaders' blood boil in rage.

"You dare!" the strongest of the three yelled, releasing his cultivation aura, the two others following suit.

Bandits around them had left the area around their leaders, knowing they wouldn't be able to handle the intense pressure. They looked at the young with a delighted expression. The boy would soon realize there are people he can't offend.

However, to the bandits' surprise, the boy didn't even stagger, much less kneel even with the strong pressure. He even looked at them, his face asking, 'This is the best you can do,'.

"Like I said, you are not a threat to me," Ryker exclaimed before he unleashed his cultivation aura. This time, the pressure is so strong even the bandits at the back kneel so quickly due to the power of the pressure to the point their knees shattered from the impact.

The leaders were the ones that suffered the most. Despite being cultivators, they were no match for Ryker, being forced to kneel without being able to fight the young man.

"Y-you a-a c-cul-t-tivator," one of the bosses stuttered. Comparing them to the boy, they were like mere house cats facing against a powerful tiger. For the first time, they were the ones to feel fear as the boy looked at them like they were mere insects.

"Please help and just die," Ryker said before making a swinging motion. Before they can even beg for mercy, the bands where all killed, Ryker easily cuts them down.

He was about to leave the hideout before he turned his gaze towards a certain direction. Frowning, he walked in the direction before scrounging around, looking for something. Because of his strength, he easily found several blue stones that he easily excavated.

His eyes opened as he knew he found a treasure trove. He quickly used his power to excavate the entire thing before finding more energy stones and even energy crystals. However, even after finding so many that he could fill two medium-sized rooms in the Hidden Ancient Mansion, he estimated he only found about one-fifth of the entire deposit.

He decided to stop for now before he sensed another powerful energy source, a magnitude greater compared to one hundred energy crystals. Easily breaking the stones where he sensed the energy source, he soon found a huge blue stone, though calling it a boulder would be more appropriate.

"An Energy Vein Core!" he exclaimed. Compared to energy crystals, this thing is far rarer, so rare that in 100 energy crystal veins, only 3 could be found. To think he was so lucky. Plans began to form in his mind as he thought of how he could use the energy crystal veins to his advantage.

Looking at his surroundings, seeing it full of corpses, he smiled evilly.

"Well, look like you scums do have some uses after all,"